


the game begins anew

by softheartelectricsoul



Category: The Tapestry Series - Henry H. Neff
Genre: Coming of Age, Fluff, Gen, Kid Fic, Post-Apocalypse, References to Norse Religion & Lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 05:14:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17037317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softheartelectricsoul/pseuds/softheartelectricsoul
Summary: or, how gabrielle cooper grows into her name.





	the game begins anew

> That is how the worlds will end, in ash and flood, in darkness and in ice. That is the final destiny of the gods.

When Gabrielle Cooper was not yet born, the world ended. Her father tells her tales of things she will never see—cellphones and spaceships and a woman named Gabrielle Richter.

She's never been accustomed to the name Gabrielle—it still feels strange on her tongue. A second-hand name, she's always believed. A name for a woman much stronger than her.

So she goes by Gabs, or Gabby, or Gia, but never Gabrielle. Not until today.

* * *

 

The chess piece moves by itself, and Gabs thinks it's only a figure of her imagination—a trick of the light. Until a second pawn moves, and then a bishop piece.

She turns to watch their dance, sitting on the Rowan grass in the spring light. She tucks her feet under her and leans over. She does not touch the pieces, but they still keep busily moving. She knows this wasn't any ordinary chess set—it was her mom's, from way before the war. It was Gabs' birthday present, but Mom never really said anything about it being magical.

But of course, it's a lovely antique. The pieces are carved into the shape of Norse gods—Odin, the king, Thor, his knight, Frigga, the queen. The pieces are plated with tarnished gold, and the chessboard itself is made of mahogany. Gabs knows her mom's a mystic. Maybe she enchanted it? Her mom could probably catch the stars in the sky, so Gabs' not terribly surprised that she could make the pieces move.

She watches the game for a better part of an hour. Everything seems to click under the early March sunlight. Gabs feels pretty good—she catches a glimpse of a bird fluttering through the sky and mentally declares it the best thing she's ever seen—but her attention's mostly focused on the moving pieces. That is, until Emma Bristol appears behind her, blushing and grinning.

 _Oh. Right. Twelfth birthday picnic._ Gabs smiles back.

“Happy belated birthday, Gabs.” Emma sets down her basket. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I had training with Jason.”

 _Ah._ Emma's been spending an awful lot of time with the Raszna boy lately. They're both Fourth Years and on track to be Agents. Before Emma can wax poetic about his "icy blue eyes" or "noble manner" again, Gabs tells her about the chessboard.

Emma casts a glance to the board and back to Gabs. “It isn't moving, ” Emma notes.

Exasperated, Gabs cries, “It still is! Look!” and points to the board, where Frey's capturing Loki.

Emma stares at the board for a while, and breaks into laughter. “Oh dear. You're a Potential. Though I doubt anyone would be surprised.”

“Potential.” Emma was right: Gabs wasn't terribly surprised. So she's going to Rowan. Most people she knew went to Rowan. “Nice! Did you bring food?”

While they munch on what Emma's dad calls a Twinkie, Emma rambles about everything from Jason's "clear, lilting voice" to Norse mythology and Gabs' "vision " .

“Funny thing is, I swear your chess set reminds me of something. I suppose it's similar to the myth of Ragnarok, but I don't suppose they had chess back then.”

“Rag-nar-what?” Gabs asks, her mouth full of cake.

Emma looks pleased to be able to show off her knowledge. “The Norse believed that the end of the world was called Ragnarok. First, there would be a winter that lasted for three years, and civilization would fall apart. We would go back centuries in terms of technology and culture. Men would slay brothers and mothers would sell daughters.”

Gabs thinks about rocketships, mobile phones, and the red winter of Astaroth's reign.

“The sun, moon, and stars will disappear. The World Tree will shake. The chain of the great Fenris Wolf will break. The Midgard serpent will rise from the sea. Loki and his giants will take over the earth, and the gods will die battling him. Loki will die, of course, and so will the giants, but they take the gods with them. ”

Gabs has no idea who half the people Emma named are, but she gets the gist. “Very sad, Emma, but what does this have to do with my mom's moving chess pieces?”

Emma gets on her back and looks at the clouds.

“Not all the gods died in Ragnarok. Six survived, and they created a new, idyllic world. Vidar and Vali, the sons of Odin; and Modi and Magni, the sons of Thor. The last two were Hodr, the blind god, and Baldr.

“Baldr was the god of the sun and light, and he was the most beautiful of the gods. He had been killed by his brother, Hodr, and had rose again to partake in the new world. He was changed by death, and his youth was returned to him. He was kinder and smarter and better than the things he was before, though he was still kind and smart before his death.”

Emma looks over at Gabs meaningfully.

“They went into the green grass of the new world and found there the table-pieces of the gods. They played a game with those pieces, and doing that, they recalled their past and they forged a way for the new world they had created. Playing that game, they set the world in motion again.”

Silence. Then—“How do we know Ragnarok hasn't happened yet? ” Gab asks.

Emma simply shrugs and chews on an apple. “Norse mythology believes that everything would die in the end. Me? Not really. Humanity's still here, aren't we?”

Gabs notices that the pieces are settled, unmoving. She realises she can capture the opponent's king with a move. She picks up a rook— a bearded man wielding a shield emblazoned with a sun— and knocks the opponent's king off the board into the dewy grass.

She sweeps the rest of the pieces off, and arranges them in the starting formation. The world feels like a warm blanket fort. _We have all the time we need_ , she thinks, though she doesn't really understand what it means. It's reassuring, though. _I have all the time I need to become myself._

“Game?” Gabrielle asks.


End file.
